American Studies

O SAY CAN YOU SEE

How did the mashup of African and European music create an American form loved worldwide? Why did the radical idea of a “personal computer” in every home sprout in America? Why did it take until 1920 for American women to get the right to vote? American Studies delves into issues like these.

As an American Studies minor you customize your courses to concentrate on what intrigues you most. Once we’ve helped you determine a focus, you’ll connect with a faculty member who shares those interests for a close mentoring relationship.

You’ll learn to appreciate the connections between and among different academic disciplines. We offer a solid foundation in American literature and history accompanied by study in related fields such as politics, religion, the arts, sociology or economics, taught by Drew experts.

Passionate Faculty

Lillie J. Edwards

Professor & director

I’d say I’m an idealist. This probably comes from my own liberal arts training that showed me the intellectual, creative and spiritual power human beings have to change the world in which they live. My current work includes a book project about the social mobility of the black middle class, using my late mother’s college diary.

Ph.D., University of Chicago

Imagine Studying

the supposed effects of mass culture and patterns of consumption in “Popular Culture and its Critics”

Minor

Requirements for the Minor (20 credits)

I. English (4 credits)

Through an examination of representative texts from twentieth-century British Literature, this course teaches students to think historically about literature through tracing a key set of concepts such as author, reader, theme, form, culture, and intertextuality.

Through an examination of representative texts from nineteenth-century British literature, this course teaches students to think historically about literature through tracing a set of key concepts such as author, reader, theme, form, culture, and intertextuality.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA- Breadth: Humanities

Offered: spring semester.

Prerequisite: ENGL 150.

ENGL 105 - Topics in American Ethnic, Immigrant, or Regional Lit.

An exploration of literature of the American ethnic, immigrant, or regional experience. The course may focus on one ethnicity, such as Jewish American or Arab American; explore the immigrant experience as it is articulated in works from several ethnicities including Italian American, Irish American, Eastern European, Asian American, South Asian American, or Latino/a; or it may focus on literature produced within specific geographical regions, regional schools, or regional traditions of the United States, including Southern literature, literature of the Great Plains, the Northwest, the Southwest, California, New York City, or New Jersey.

Course may be repeated.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Breadth/Humanities, CLA-Diversity US

Offered: in alternate fall semesters..

ENGL 106 - African American Literature

A study of the writers in the African American literary tradition from the beginning of the 20th century to the present. Through a variety of genres, we will examine the work of selected writers in light of their historical time and place, major themes, conclusions about the nature of black experience in the United States and their contributions to this literary tradition and to the American literary canon. We will pay close attention to particular movements in this tradition, such as the Harlem Renaissance, protest literature, the Black Arts movement, and contemporary directions in the literature since 1970. Writers may include: Alain Locke, Claude McKay, Nella Larsen, Jean Toomer, Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Wright, Lorraine Hansberry, James Baldwin, Amiri Baraka, Ntozake Shange, Paule Marshall, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Sonia Sanchez, and Alice Walker.

May be repeated for credit as topic changes.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Breadth/Humanities, CLA-Diversity US

Offered: in alternate spring semesters..

ENGL 303 - Women's Literary Tradition (when topic appropriate)

Examines works by women writers in the Anglo-American and Anglophone tradition through the historical and theoretical approaches that have emerged from recent feminist criticism and theory. May focus on a particular genre, period, author or authors, the literature of a particular region, or on literature in particular social or cultural contexts. Such topics as: Women Writers and World War I; Female Bildungsroman; African American Women Writers; Victorian Women Poets.

Intensive study in American ethnic literatures: African American, Asian American, Latino/a, American Indian, Jewish, and Caribbean literatures, among others. Instructors may select particular emphases for these areas of study, which can include a focus on chronological or thematic approaches or on the development of a particular genre, such as poetry, novel, short fiction, autobiography, or drama. Central to the study of these literatures is a consideration of the unique aspects of ethnic cultures in the United States that inform various American ethic literary traditions.

Signature of instructor required for registration.

Course may be repeated for credit.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Diversity US

Offered: in alternate spring semester.

Prerequisite: ENGL 150 or permission of the instructor.

ENGL 301 - Filming Feminism (when topic appropriate)

Through examination of documentary and fiction films, this course will explore the development of thinking about women, gender, and feminism after 1900. We'll think simultaneously about the evolution of feminist thought in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and about how film has engaged with, represented, supported, disseminated, and critiqued those developing ideas. Readings in feminist theory of the period will be put in dialogue with a wide range of films from silents to Hollywood blockbusters to independents and documentaries made with explicitly feminist purposes.

Credits: 4

ENGL 372 - Studies in Fiction: Seminar (when topic appropriate)

A study of selected major works of fiction. Focus depends on instructor.

An intensive study of a theme, problem, or literary genre. The topic varies from year to year, but the seminar is designed to offer students an extended analysis of that topic and the opportunity to explore it from a number of perspectives and critical positions.

A close reading and a critical examination of the work of an individual British, American, or Anglophone author. The author varies from year to year, but the focus of the course is an immersion into the work of that author and an engagement with the criticism of that work. In some seminars students may work with archival material. Others will focus primarily on the texts, explore significant debates about the work or its interpretation, or view the texts through a specific theoretical framework.

A tutorial course with meetings by arrangement and oral and written reports. Students who wish to pursue independent study must offer for approval of the instructor a proposal on a literary topic not covered in the curriculum. Joint proposals by two or more students may be submitted.

Signature of instructor required for registration.

Course may be repeated.

Credits: 2-4

Offered: every semester.

ENGL 107 - Asian American Literature

Examines works by women writers in the Anglo-American and Anglophone tradition through the historical and theoretical approaches that have emerged from recent feminist criticism and theory. May focus on a particular genre, period, author or authors, the literature of a particular region, or on literature in particular social or cultural contexts. Such topics as: Women Writers and World War I; Female Bildungsroman; African American Women Writers; Victorian Women Poets.

An advanced examination of American literature before the Civil War. Topics include transcendentalism, visions and revisions, the American novel, literary responses to the Civil War and the aftermath of slavery. Writers may include Irving, Poe, Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville, Whitman, Jacobs, Douglass, Stowe.

Signature of instructor required for registration.

Course may be repeated.

Credits: 2-4

Attributes: CLA-Writing Intensive

Offered: in alternate fall semesters.

Prerequisite: Prerequisites: ENGL 252.

ENGL 355 - Advanced Studies in American Literature from the Civil War to World War I

Topics include women writers in post-Civil War America and regional and national voices from the Civil War to WWI. Perspectives on realism, naturalism, women's voices, regional and national voices in the fiction, nonfiction and poetry from the end of the Civil War to World War I. Writers may include Twain, James, Dickinson, Adams, Crane, Davis, Chopin, London, Gilman, Wharton, and Jewett.

Course may be repeated for credit.

Credits: 2-4

Offered: in alternate spring semesters.

Prerequisite: Prerequisites: ENGL 252 or ENGL 253.

ENGL 356 - Advanced Studies in American Literature of the 20th Century

Topics include artistic movements such as Naturalism, the Beats, New Journalism, Modernism, or Postmodernism; covering fields such as women's literature, ethnic literatures, or immigrant literature; intertextuality; literature in relation to social movements of the second half of the century, historical eras such as the Great Depression, Cold War, World Wars; or major authors.

This course allows sustained concentration on a single text. In some semesters, the text itself will be a long and difficult one (e.g., Paradise Lost or Finnegan's Wake). In other semesters the course will cover a more accessible literary text but that text will be viewed through the lenses of various kinds of interpretation (e.g., cultural criticism, performance theory, formalism, gender studies, deconstruction, psychoanalytical theory).

Course may be repeated.

Credits: 2-4

Offered: alternate fall semesters.

Prerequisite: One of the following as appropriate: ENGL 250, ENGL 251, ENGL 252 or ENGL 253.

ENGL 323 - Approaches to Literature: Genre (when topic appropriate)

All writers conceive of themselves as writing inside of a genre. If writing inside of a genre involved only the imposition of constraint, writers surely would not choose to do it. What is genre? How does it open possibilities for writing? How do genres change over time and across cultures? What is the relationship between literary genre and the way humans frame their emotional, intellectual, and social experience? The focus will be on a single genre (e.g., novel, lyric poem, tragedy, comedy, epic, ballad, gothic novel, graphic novel, etc.) .

Course may be repeated.

Credits: 2-4

Offered: in alternate spring semesters.

Prerequisite: Prerequisites: One of the following as appropriate: ENGL 250, ENGL 251, ENGL 252 or ENGL 253.

How much can we read into a work based on our knowledge of a writer's life? In this course we will look at literary texts in relation to letters and diaries. We will then look at how biographers and literary critics used those same letters and diaries to say something about the author's life or writings. After reading some essays by biographers about the challenges that they have faced in their work, students will attempt to compose an argument of their own by drawing on letters, diaries, or other primary sources.

Course may be repeated.

Credits: 2-4

Offered: in alternate fall semesters.

Prerequisite: Prerequisites: One of the following as appropriate: ENGL 250, ENGL 251, ENGL 252 or ENGL 253.

This course explores the various ways that texts "answer" each other or imbricate each other. Writers often compose a text in response to another work (sometimes contemporaneous, sometimes distant). Writers also develop rivalries, write for each other as audience, feel especially influenced by or even possessed by another writer. In some eras, all literature is considered to be "part" of a larger project or in response to a "big" text (e.g., the Bible). Some literary works are written in the shadow of another language. Different theories of intertextuality will be covered.

Course may be repeated for credit.

Credits: 2-4

Offered: in alternate spring semesters.

Prerequisite: Prerequisites: One of the following as appropriate: ENGL 250, ENGL 251, ENGL 252 or ENGL 253.

The course covers interactions between literary artists and visual artists. We will look at individual writers' responses to particular works of art as well as broader relationships such as visual iconography in medieval works or breakthrough moments in modernism and postmodernism when writers' exposure to the visual arts led them to invent new modes of composition and of perception.

Course may be repeated for credit.

Credits: 2-4

Offered: in alternate fall semesters.

Prerequisite: Prerequisites: One of the following as appropriate: ENGL 250, ENGL 251, ENGL 252 or ENGL 253.

The course covers interactions between literary artists and visual artists. We will look at individual writers' responses to particular works of art as well as broader relationships such as visual iconography in medieval works or breakthrough moments in modernism and postmodernism when writers' exposure to the visual arts led them to invent new modes of composition and of perception.

Course may be repeated.

Credits: 2-4

Offered: in alternate spring semesters.

Prerequisite: Prerequisites: One of the following as appropriate: ENGL 250, ENGL 251, ENGL 252 or ENGL 253.

II. History (4 credits)

HIST 101 - History of the United States, From Contact to 1877

A study of the development of the United States from first contact between Europeans and Native peoples through the Civil war and reconstruction. Covers such issues as the rationale for contact and conquest, the nature of colonial development, the American revolution, the transformation of the republic into a democracy, expansion to the Pacific, industrialization, the development and implications of slavery, and national collapse and reunion.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Breadth/Humanities, CLA-Diversity US

Offered: fall semester.

HIST 102 - History of the United States, 1876-Present

A survey of the development of American society from Reconstruction to the present. Treats major events, such as the Great Depression, and explores significant themes, such as industrialization and world power.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Breadth/Humanities, CLA - Diversity, U.S.

Offered: spring semester.

HIST 211 - African-American History: African Origins to 1877

An examination of the experiences that shaped African-American life from the period of the trans-Atlantic slave trade to the end of Reconstruction. Explores how Africans became African-Americans and how they reclaimed their culture, dignity, and humanity as individuals and as a community.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Breadth/Humanities, CLA-Diversity US

Offered: Annually.

HIST 212 - The Struggle for Equality: African-American History from 1860 to The Present

An examination of the African-American struggle for equality in American society from the Civil War to the present. Topics include the relationship among gender, race, and class; the relationship between African-American leaders and the masses; African-American culture; urban migrations; the evolution of African-American relationships with local, state, and federal government; and contemporary issues.

The social, cultural, economic, and political changes that created a distinctive American society in British North America from first contact through 1760. Special attention to interactions between European, African, and Native Americans and the rise of distinctly American institutions and ideas.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Breadth/Humanities, CLA-Diversity US

Offered: fall semesters in odd numbered years.

HIST 308 - The American Civil War

An examination of the breakdown of national consensus and compromise in 19th-century America and the growth of Southern and Northern identities and conflicts. Studies the nature of the slave system and its effects on Southern society and the industrial system and its effects on the North, as well as the Civil War itself, the battles and leaders, and its impact on the two "nations.".

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Breadth/Humanities

Offered: Offering to be determined.

HIST 319 - The History of Work in America

This course discusses fundamental shifts in the nature of work in America from the 17th through the 20th centuries, alongside the social, cultural and political changes that invested work with different meanings over time. Topics covered include the origins of a slave labor system, the impact of the industrial revolution on both men and women's work, the evolving relationship between workers and the state, the development and impact of an organized labor movement, as well as the "new economy" in postwar America.

A study of the intellectual arguments and social institutions that have empowered African-American leaders and the masses to maintain and assert their humanity within a world of oppression. Focuses on how gender, race, and class have created diverse ideas and opinions among African-Americans and the methods used by African-American intellectuals to analyze these ideas and opinions.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Breadth/Humanities

Offered: spring semester in alternate years.

HIST 301 - Selected Topics in History

A study of a historical theme or topic that uses a methodological approach or viewpoint not fully explored within the departmental offerings. Topics vary according to student interest and faculty expertise.

May be repeated for credit as topic changes.

Credits: 1-4

Attributes: CLA-Breadth/Humanities

Offered: Offering to be determined.

HIST 300 - Independent Study

A tutorial course stressing independent investigation of a topic selected in conference with the instructor and approved by the department. Admission by petition to or by invitation from the department.

Signature of instructor required for registration.

May be repeated for credit.

Credits: 1-4

HIST 306 - The American Revolution

The revolutionary conflict between the American colonies and the British Empire that produced an independent American nation, situating that conflict within dramatic social, cultural, and economic transformations in eastern North America in the late eighteenth century and addressing how contemporaries understood the nature and limits of revolutionary potential in the process of creating a new polity.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Breadth/Humanities

Offered: spring semester in odd-numbered years.

HIST 312 - The United States Since World War II

A study of the major changes in contemporary American society since 1945. Explores the effects of the Cold War, the modern consumer economy, and technology on the institutions and values of the American people.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Breadth/Humanities, CLA-Writing Intensive

Offered: annually.

HIST 327 - Presidents and the Presidency in the United States, 1787-Present

A study of the origins and evolution of the American presidency. Focuses on those presidents (Washington, Jackson, Lincoln, F. D. Roosevelt) who had the greatest effect on the office and the slow accretion of changing precedents and policies over time.

Credits: 4

Offered: fall semester in alternate years.

HIST 321 - American Women's History

A survey of the social, economic, political, and intellectual history of women in America from the colonial period to the present, with a special emphasis on the 19th and 20th centuries. Considers the diversity of women's experience as a result of race, class, ethnicity, and geographic location. Emphasizes developing skills in the use of primary sources-written, artifactual, and oral. Topics vary annually.

May be repeated for credit as topic changes.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Breadth/Humanities, CLA-Diversity US

Offered: fall semester.

III. Additional Area (4 credits)

ANTH 205 - Native North American Cultures

The study of cultures of native North America immediately prior to the Columbian expansion of Europe and directions and dynamics of culture change to the present. Examines current issues, specifically points of contention with the U.S. and Canadian governments and other peoples now inhabiting Native American space.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Breadth/Social Science

Offered: Offering to be determined.

Prerequisite: ANTH 104 or permission of instructor.

ARTH 307 - American Art

This course provides a chronological survey of American painting and sculpture produced between the colonial period and World War I and the diverse art historical methodologies (feminism, social history and psychoanalysis, for example) that have been employed to interpret it and write its histories. Some Native American material is also included. Works of art will be situated within their broad social historical contexts and considered in light of such topics as the "Americanness" of American art and the usefulness of studying art within individual national "schools"; the place of African-American and women artists in US art history; transnational exchange with Europe; the development and role of art institutions; the connections between American art and literature; and the relationship between art and national identity.

The operations and institutions of financial markets; their role in financing new investments, pensions, etc. ; their impact on local, national, and global economies. The economic history and ethical dimensions of Wall Street and its relation to macroeconomic policy.

Signature of instructor required for registration.

Credits: 8

Attributes: CLA-Off Campus Experience

Prerequisite: ECON 101 and ECON 102 and acceptance into the Wall Street Semester.

ECON 350 - Selected Topics in Economics (when topic appropriate)

Topics determined by department. Recent topics have included economics of racism, government regulation of industry, the microeconomics of macroeconomics, and workplace democracy.

May be repeated for credit as topic changes.

Credits: 4

Offered: Offering to be determined.

Prerequisite: ECON+25 and 26.

ECON 314 - American Economic Development

A survey of the economic history of the United States from its establishment as a collection of British colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries to its emergence as the world's leading industrial nation in the mid-20th century. Explores the nature, causes, and consequences of America's economic growth and development and the social and political transformations that accompanied its rise to world industrial supremacy. Through the study of American economic development, students acquire a historical perspective on contemporary economic theory, issues, policies, and debates.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Writing in the Major

Offered: annually.

Prerequisite: ECON 301 and ECON 302.

ECON 315 - Political Economy of Race, Class, and Gender

A study of race, class, and gender using the political economic approach to the study of economics. The course will investigate the impact of introducing the categories of race, class, and gender into political economic theory and will also undertake some empirical analyses of the roles of race, class, and gender in producing economic outcomes for minorities and majorities in the U.S.

Prerequisite: Sophomore or higher standing and one course in Economics.

MUS 234 - History of Jazz

A course designed to help students become familiar with and appreciate jazz as an important American art form through listening together with discussion of key artists, styles, terminology, culture and traditions. Attendance at a live performance is required.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Breadth/Arts, CLA-Diversity US

Offered: fall semester.

MUS 240 - Music in the American Century

A broad survey of American music from John Adams to Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. We will examine neo-romantic trends in the music of Samuel Barber, Amy Beach and John Corigliano, the transcendentalism of Charles Ives, the American West in Aaron Copland, jazz in the music of Leonard Bernstein and the innovations of minimalist composers Phillip Glass and Steve Reich, and the new directions of the "avant-garde" from John Cage to Pauline Oliveros.

Credits: 4

Offered: in odd-numbered years.

PHIL 304 - Problems of Ethics and Meta-Ethics

Critical discussions of issues in contemporary moral philosophy in the areas of applied ethics, normative ethics, and meta-ethics. At the most highly theoretical level are considerations about the meaning of moral terms that give rise to cognitive and noncognitive theories of ethics. At a more immediate level are problems of practical concern having to do with such issues as euthanasia, abortion, animal rights, and world hunger. Readings are from 20th-century philosophers, most of whom are alive today.

Credits: 4

Offered: spring semester.

PSCI 103 - American Government and Politics

A study of institutions and politics in the American political system. Ways of thinking about how significant problems and conflicts are resolved through the American political process.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Breadth/Social Science

Offered: every semester.

PSCI 301 - Civil Liberties

An intensive investigation of the struggle within our legal system over the interpretation of the Bill of Rights. Reviews relevant cases and resulting opinions. Examines the behavior of the justices as well as issues involving the impact of and compliance with the court's decisions.

Credits: 4

Offered: annually.

PSCI 212 - Public Policy and Administration

An examination of the public policy process in the United States, including agenda setting, program adoption, and program implementation. Emphasizes how national political institutions-Congress, the presidency, the federal judiciary, and the bureaucracy-shape policy outcomes.

Credits: 4

Offered: Annually.

PSCI 302 - Criminal Justice

An examination of the three major criminal justice institutions-police, courts, and prisons. Emphasizes how our major cities are dealing with the problem of crime as well as the discretionary powers of critical actors within the justice system.

Credits: 4

Offered: annually.

PSCI 240 - United States Foreign Policy

A historical and policy analysis of United States foreign policy. Emphasizes central themes running through U.S. global behavior, current policy processes, and specific issues of concern to U.S. decision makers.

Topics vary as the department may direct. Topics have included state politics, policy analysis, media and politics, and politics and culture.

May be repeated for credit as topic changes.

Credits: 4

Offered: Offering to be determined.

PSCI 213 - Congress

An analysis of the beliefs, attitudes, and behavior of legislative actors. Explores the role conception of legislators and the patterns of interaction in which they engage, following an examination of the legislative recruitment process. Special attention is given to the committee system, leadership structure, and decisional activity of each house of Congress.

Credits: 4

Offered: alternate years.

PSCI 215 - The American Presidency

Seeks to understand the development of the role of the presidency and to evaluate its importance in the modern American political system. Major issues considered include the nature of presidential leadership, the relationship of the presidency to other branches of government, public expectations of the president, and the effect of individual presidents.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Breadth/Social Science

Offered: in alternate years.

PSCI 216 - Urban Politics

An analysis and examination of urban problems and policy making with particular attention to formal and informal power structures in the urban political environment.

Credits: 4

Offered: fall semester.

PSCI 361 - Latin America and U.S. Foreign Policy

An examination of current relations between the United States and Latin American states, as well as the history, doctrines, institutions, objectives, and interests that shape these relations.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Diversity International

Offered: annually.

PSCI 313 - Gender and U.S. Politics

An analysis of the relationship between gender and politics from various theoretical perspectives. Focuses on the multiple ways that gender, race, and class have influenced political participation and political institutions at the at the grass roots, state, and national levels. Explores the construction of women's political interests and how those interests are, and have been, represented in political life in the United States.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Breadth/Social Science, CLA-Diversity US

Offered: spring semester.

PSCI 314 - American Political Economy

This course explores the relationship between politics and economics in the U.S. The course begins with a theoretical exploration of the relationship democracy and capitalism and examines the differences between government and market solutions to collective action problems. The second component of the course examines the political practices of business, labor, and other political actors. The last part of the course builds on the first two in an assessment of a range of public policies in the U.S. including, for example, economic policies, industrial relations, and employment policy.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Writing Intensive

Offered: in alternate years.

Prerequisite: PSCI 103 recommended.

PSCI 285 - Internship Project in Washington

An educational experience that allows students to test classroom hypotheses in a "real world" political environment. Students work in an approved government or government-related office. Evaluation of work performance is made by a field supervisor, and students are required to write one or more analytical papers related to the experience. Required readings in the academic literature provide a foundation for understanding and interpreting the internship experience.

Signature of instructor required for registration.

Credits: 8

Attributes: CLA-Off Campus Experience

PSCI 385 - Elections and Policy Making in Washington

The course looks at the process of democratic representation focusing on the development and practice of electoral campaigning and its linkages to legislative and public affairs and lobbying. This approach offers an analysis of how individuals, parties, and interest groups utilize democratic processes to produce practical results in a diverse and fragmented society.

This course is a practicum in the field of political campaigns. In this course students work as part of your group in "real time" on a mock political campaign. Students apply the principles and theories taught in PSCI 385. The electoral race for which students develop a plan will actually take place in the upcoming election cycle. While the practicum meets regularly once each week, all groups in this course meet outside of class time in order to plan and execute their projects.

Signature of instructor required for registration.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Off Campus Experience

Offered: spring semester.

Corequisite: Co-requisite: PSCI 285 Internship Project in Washington.

PSCI 303 - Constitutional Law and Civil Rights

This course examines the structure and functioning of the United States Supreme Court the theories about judicial decision making, and legal and political debates on civil rights. Following the discussions on judicial review, federalism and separation of powers, the course will look historically on the U.S. Supreme Court's interpretation of the equal protection clause in relation to race, gender, culture, and immigration among other issues. Discussion will focus not only on landmark cases in constitutional law but also on the ways in which other legal actors, such as lawyers and interest groups, play a role in determining the nature and outcome of cases. We will look throughout at the relationship between law and politics as well as at the socio-cultural context in which judicial decisions are made.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Diversity US

Offered: annually.

PSCI 317 - Education Policy and Politics

This course will analyze both the politics and the policy of schooling in the United States. On the political side, we will explore the debate over the purposes of public education and the use of education as an electoral issue, as well as the individuals, groups, and institutions that compete to control schools, and how and where they seek to advance their different interests and values. On the policy side, we will analyze the impact of democratic control, federalism, and checks and balances on the provision of education in the U.S. and how and why school governance has evolved over time. The course will also examine the debates over specific school reforms such as: standards and testing, equalization of school finance, school choice, and the No Child Left Behind Act, as well as the unique challenges facing urban schools.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Diversity US, CLA-Writing Intensive

Offered: annually.

PSCI 318 - Race and Politics

This course will examine the role of race in American politics and its contemporary significance to the nation's citizens, politicians, and governmental institutions. Questions will include: What are the primary intra- and inter-group dynamics that shape contemporary minority politics? How do the politics of race intersect with the politics of class and gender? What opportunities and challenges exist in mobilizing the members of minority groups for political action in the U.S.? What role have racial issues and attitudes played in the electoral strategies of political parties and candidates and in the electoral choices of voters? How do the structures and processes of American political institutions affect the efforts of minority groups to secure political influence? How has the rise to power of minority politicians-particularly in many urban areas-affected policymaking? How successful have minority groups been in their quest to use government to expand economic and educational opportunity? How are demographic forces likely to reshape the politics of race and -American politics more generally- in the 21st century?.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Diversity US, CLA-Writing Intensive

Offered: annually.

REL 214 - Business Ethics

A philosophical and theological study of those ethical, religious, and social issues that play an important role in thinking morally about economic and business practices. Attention is paid to practical ethical problems arising out of the functional areas of management and the wider areas of business and social responsibility in relation to the community, ecology, minorities, the role of multinationals and public safety.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Breadth/Humanities

Offered: spring semester and occasional summers

SOC 201 - Contemporary Social Problems

An examination of contemporary social problems for their effect on American society. Considers proposed solutions to various social problems. The specific topics studied change to reflect contemporary American concerns. Such topics as aging, civil rights, crime, drug addiction, environmental pollution, mental illness, and poverty may be explored.

Credits: 4

Offered: annually.

Prerequisite: SOC 101 or permission of instructor.

SOC 202 - Sociology of Inequality

An analysis of the social and psychological causes, manifestations, and consequences of inequality. Examines class, gender, race and ethnicity, and age inequalities, with a focus on the United States.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Diversity US

Offered: spring semester.

Prerequisite: SOC 101 or permission of instructor.

SOC 225 - Sociology of Gender

An analysis of contemporary gender roles from a variety of theoretical perspectives. Focuses on the social construction of gender and how gender affects our most intimate relationships. An examination of the implications of gender stratification for family and workplace. Explores historical and cross-cultural variations in gender roles, as well as variations by race, ethnicity, social class, and sexual orientation.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Diversity US

Offered: annually.

Prerequisite: SOC 101 or permission of instructor.

SOC 226 - Sociology of Race and Ethnicity

Focuses on an analysis of race and ethnicity as social constructions. An examination of the creation of race and ethnic categories and process of social stratification based on these categories. Explores the historical, economic and political processes that shape our understanding of race and ethnicity in the U.S. and abroad.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Diversity US, CLA-Writing Intensive

Offered: annually.

Prerequisite: SOC 101 or permission of instructor.

SOC 227 - Sociology of Families

An analysis of theoretical approaches to the study of the family with an emphasis on changing gender roles. Focuses on diversity among families and how definitions of "the family" are changing to incorporate variations in family structure by social class, ethnic and racial background, and sexual orientation. Topics include dating, love and romance, cohabitation, marriage and divorce, single-parent families, remarriage, day care, and violence in intimate family relationships.

Credits: 4

Offered: annually.

Prerequisite: SOC 101 or permission of instructor.

SOC 229 - The Sociology of Aging

A study of the key concepts, main theoretical perspectives, and important substantive issues of the sociology of aging. One of the central issues explored is gender differences in aging. Other issues include stereotypes, the social construction of life cycles, changes in relationships over the life course, eldercare, and work and retirement. Examines historical and cross-cultural variations in aging and differences by race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and social class.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Diversity US

Offered: Annually.

Prerequisite: SOC 101 or equivalent.

SOC 234 - Introduction to Social Welfare

A sociological introduction to the institution of social welfare, using the theory and the methodology of sociology to analyze the role of social welfare in modern industrial society. Focuses on the historical development and the institutionalization of social welfare; contradictions between the ideal of social welfare and the manner in which it becomes actualized; and the relationships between social welfare and political, economic, and religious institutions. Uses sociological analysis in the study of specific social welfare institutions and agencies.

Credits: 4

Offered: Offering to be determined.

Prerequisite: SOC 101 or permission of instructor.

SOC 249 - Sociology of Work

A sociological examination of the varieties of work and the ways in which the changing nature of work affects the well-being of the workers. Topics include different types of jobs, occupations and professions, low-wage work and poverty, worker health and safety, work and family, race, class and gender in the workplace, and collectives' responses to work.

Credits: 4

Offered: annually.

Prerequisite: SOC 101.

SOC 250 - Sociology of Childhood and Youth

An interdisciplinary approach is used to explore transformations in the cultural and emotional meanings of childhood. This course focuses on the development of institutions that serve their needs. It analyzes the disjunction between the social construction of childhood/youth and the lived experience. It examines how inequalities among children and youth vary based on class, gender, race, region, country, and their role as workers or consumers. The course also analyzes the political and economic commonalities among youth and children that relegate them to a separate and frequently segregated sphere of social life.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Diversity US

Offered: annually.

Prerequisite: SOC 101 or permission of instructor.

SOC 304 - Sociology of Immigration

A sociological and historical study of the issues surrounding immigration. The first section of the class looks at the macro side of immigration: some basic history of immigration waves to the U.S., causes and patterns of immigration, and issues such as immigrants in labor markets, economic and academic assimilation, immigrant crime, and the politics surrounding immigration both in the U.S. and abroad. The second section explores the micro side: the personal experience of immigration, immigrant identity, alienation, cultural assimilation, and acculturative stress.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Diversity US

Offered: Offering to be determined.

Prerequisite: SOC 101 or permission of instructor.

SOC 303 - Social Change

A sociological, historical, and cross-cultural examination of social change. Covers theories of change and explores its many forms. Topics include the relationships of ideology and consciousness, technology, and demography to social change, and the making of societal change through social movements and revolutions. Examines change in both industrialized and Third World nations. Focuses on change in gender systems and the efforts of a variety of marginalized groups to transform the status quo.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA- Diversity International; CLA-Writing Intensive

Offered: annually.

Prerequisite: SOC 101 or permission of instructor.

SOC 302 - Urban Sociology

A sociological and historical examination of the city as a geographical, cultural, economic and political entity. Investigates processes of urbanization, suburbanization and globalization as forces shaping the current organization of social life. Topics covered include stratification, urban politics, international urbanization and social change.

Signature of instructor required for registration.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA - Breadth Diversity International

Offered: in alternate years.

Prerequisite: SOC 101 or permission of instructor.

SOC 307 - Criminology

An analysis of the sociological aspects of crime with particular attention to the theoretical definition and the statistical incidence of criminal behavior in the United States. Focuses on major sociological theories of crime, the analysis of homicide, and sociohistorical attempts to control crime and rehabilitate criminals.

Credits: 4

Offered: annually.

Prerequisite: SOC 101 or equivalent.

SOC 308 - Sociology of Population

An introductory examination of the social study of population. Topics include current concern about population expansion; history of global demographic increases and decreases; examination of important demographic theories, particularly those of Malthus and Marx; analysis of the major demographic variables of fertility, mortality, and migration.

Credits: 4

Offered: Offering to be determined.

Prerequisite: SOC 101 or permission of instructor.

SOC 309 - Sociology of Mass Communications(Same as: BKHIS 810.)

An overview of how the mass media and American cultural, political and economic institutions mutually affect each other. Systems of mass communication examined include books, the Internet, magazines, movies, newspapers, and television. Two topics to be emphasized are: 1) the production, control, and consumption of various forms of information in the mass media; 2) comparative analyses of the uses of mass media in different countries.

Credits: 4

Offered: fall semester.

Prerequisite: SOC 101 or permission of instructor.

SOC 311 - Sociology of Health and Illness

A survey of the important themes involved in the sociological analysis of health problems and their treatment. Topics include different health care systems, doctor-patient relationships, professional socialization, other health care providers, epidemiology, and the social-psychological aspects of medical technology.

Credits: 4

Offered: spring semester.

Prerequisite: SOC 101 or permissions of the instructor.

SOC 315 - Political Sociology(Same as: RLSOC 115.)

A presentation of the main themes and the dominant theoretical perspectives involved in the study of political processes and political institutions. Topics include politics, elections, nation building, national elites and public policy making, parties, and social movements.

Credits: 4

Offered: spring semester.

Prerequisite: SOC 101 or permission of instructor.

SOC 217 - The Sociology of Management

A presentation of the main themes involved in the management of corporations and other business organizations. The themes examined are communication, decision making, innovation, leadership, strategy, and politics.

Credits: 4

Offered: annually.

Prerequisite: SOC 101 or permission of instructor.

SOC 318 - Sociology of Education

An analysis of the institutionalized ways of educating and training people in the United States. Emphasizes the functions of education for maintaining and/or changing the social structure. Examines the purposes and needs of the intellectual community.

Credits: 4

Offered: Offering to be determined.

Prerequisite: SOC 101 or permission of instructor.

SOC 290 - Contemporary Issues in Sociology (when topic appropriate)

An examination of contemporary issues and topics in sociology. The particular issue or topic changes from time to time.

This course focuses on the interdisciplinary aspects of literature and texts that represent colonial, neo-colonial and post-colonial encounters (Columbus and the "cannibals;" Malinche and Cortez; Pocahontas and John Smith; Prospero and Caliban; contemporary migrants and the immigration officials at the sea or land border of USA or Spain). Our task will be to discuss the notions of power and powerlessness, center and periphery, purity and hybridism, First and Third World, cultural identity and globalization that may be present in these encounters.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Breadth/Humanities, CLA-Foreign Language

Prerequisite: SPAN 310 or special permission.

ARTH 375 - Museums and Society(Same as: ANTH 375.)

This course explores the intersection of the museum and its public with a focus on the rise of the museum in the late eighteenth century and its development up to the present day. Why were museums created, and what purposes do these institutions serve? What values do they project? Such questions are addressed through selected case studies and readings of key theoretical texts in the field. Analysis of current museum and gallery exhibitions, discussion of such issues as the role of government, the interdependence of museums and the art market, and debates over repatriation, restitution and looting or theft will also be addressed.

A topic or period of art history not covered by regular offerings. May be repeated for credit as topic changes.

Course may be repeated.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Breadth/Arts, CLA-Breadth/Humanities

Offered: Offering to be determined.

PSCI 306 - American Political Parties and Interest Groups

This course examines the origins, structure and political functions of political parties and interest groups in the U.S. Topics include strategies and influence of interest groups in American politics, the development and significance of the two-party system in the U.S., and recent changes in both types of political institutions and their relationship to each other. This is a writing intensive seminar and students should be prepared to write a significant number of papers of varying length and will be expected to extensively revise their work.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Diversity US, CLA-Writing Intensive

Offered: in alternate years.

PSCI 214 - American Political Campaigns

An examination of the place of campaigns in American politics, analyzing the factors that shape their content and outcome and considering their effect on the structure of the political process and on public policy. Possible reforms to the process are also a main consideration of the class.

Credits: 4

Offered: in alternate years.

PSCI 308 - Urban Policy Research

An analysis of the major political and social problems facing urban governments. Examples of policy issues studied are education, housing, crime, and transportation. Students conduct empirical research examining a selected policy issue.

Credits: 4

Offered: in alternate years.

Prerequisite: PSCI+128.

PSCI 311 - Seminar on American Political Participation

An examination of the various forms of American political participation. The course focuses on such activities as elections, social movements, civil disobedience, and political violence. The class also examines the causes and effects of non-participation. A central goal is to investigate the democratic theories that underpin American politics.

Independent investigation of a topic selected in conference with the instructor and approved by the department. One meeting weekly; oral and written reports.

Signature of instructor required for registration.

May be repeated for credit with the approval of the department.

Credits: 2-4

Offered: each semester.

Prerequisite: One year of political science and permission of the instructor.

REL 304 - Religion in America

A historical approach to American religious developments. The goal is to understand religious dimensions of the pluralistic nature of society in the United States. Topics will vary by course offering but are likely to include a consdierationb of varieties of Christianity in the United States, including Puritanism, the Great Awakening, the Enlightenment, Revivalism, the rise of denominationalism, the emergence of sects and cults. Topics may also include African-American religion, civil religion, the interactions among Protestants, Catholics. and Jews in American society, and Middle Eastern and Asian religions in America.

Course may be repeated as topic changes.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Breadth/Humanities, CLA-Diversity U.S.

Offered: Offering to be determined.

REL 248 - Contemporary American Catholicism

An introduction to Roman Catholic life and thought as experienced in the United States, with emphasis upon the church's ongoing pursuit of aggiornamento (rethinking basic issues) in such areas as doctrine, ecclesial structures, and problems of the modern world. Focuses on the dialectic between institutional conformity and the American democratic ideal of personal freedom, between traditional consciousness and contemporary culture, between the dynamics of human existence and dogmatic and moral tenets.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Breadth/Humanities

Offered: Offering to be determined.

REL 390 - Seminar in the Study of Religion (when topic appropriate)

This course examines topics in the study of religion at the advanced level. Topics will vary. The course introduces students to the nature of religion as a defined area of human experience through beliefs, practices, and cultural identity. The course introduces students to methods such as phenomenological, thematic, historical, or comparative perspectives to analyze religious phenomena.

May be repeated for credit as topic changes.

Credits: 4

Attributes: CLA-Breadth/Humanities

Offered: Offering to be determined.

REL 204 - Native American Religions

This course investigates the origins of Native American religions, how they have changed, the reasons for those changes, and how Native Americans have influenced the beliefs of non Native Americans. History is the primary lens for this exploration. Issued such as Native American's relationship with nature and the supernatural are analyzed. Core concepts are presented and critically assessed with an emphasis on why Native Americans understandings mat differ from those of other religious groups. In the depth case studies are included, for example of Pueblos, Tainos, and Lakotas. The case studies may vary from year to year.